Carpet hoist

ABSTRACT

A straddle-type hoist has four caster wheels. A strap is wound on a winch proximate the top of one of the legs. The hoist may be moved forward over a roll of carpet and sideways as the carpet is rolled sideways to get the strap under the carpet. After the strap and carpet are lifted by the winch, carry bars are placed across the feet of the hoist to support the carpet while it is being moved from one position to another. The crossbar, carry bars and the legs are telescoped for changing the height thereof.

Unite States Patent 1191 Gonzales Aug. 27, 1974 1 CARPET HOIST [76] lnventor: Carmen R. Gonzales, 2619 W. 5th,

Plainview, Tex. 79072 [22] Filed: Jan. 17, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 324,489

52 us. o1. 214/396, 254/4 R 51 1m. (:1 1360p 3/00 [58] Field of Search 214/390, 392, 394, 396;

254/2 R, 2 B, 2 c, 4 R, 4 B, 4 o; 28/41, 42

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1953 Schmidt 28/41 X 8/1961 Matthews 254/2 R X 3,494,492 2/1970 Thiermann 214/396 3,622,025 11/1971 Petersen 214/396 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,137,118 l/l957 France 214/394 1,054,615 l/1967 Great Britain 28/42 Primary Examiner-Albert J. Makay Attorney, Agent, or FirmWendell Coffee [57] ABSTRACT A straddle-type hoist has four caster wheels. A strap is wound on a winch proximate the top of one of the legs. The hoist may be moved forward over a roll of carpet and sideways as the carpet is rolled sideways to get the strap under the carpet. After the strap and carpet are lifted by the winch, carry bars are placed across the feet of the hoist to support the carpet while it is being moved from one position to another. The crossbar, carry bars and the legs are telescoped for changing the height thereof.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIEDmszmu SHEEI 3 BF 3 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to vehicles for handling rolls of carpet and more particularly to a vehicle bridgingthe load with removable transverse load support. (214/396) 2. Description of the Prior Art Faustine, US. Pat. No. 2,702,139, shows a hoist where there is a support at each end of the roll of carpet so the cable at each end may attach to a shaft through the center of the roll. After the carpet has been picked up, it may be lowered on removable supports.

Ghant,U.S. Pat. No. 2,491,967, shows a very similar device designed for material other than carpet.

Washburn, US. Pat. No. 3,534,880, and Fincher, US. Pat. No. 3,638,815, also show hoists for picking up a roll of carpet where the shaft through the centerof the roll forms a connection for the two ends of the hoist.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION New and Different Function I have made aninvention of a hoist which is only a fraction of the length of the roll of carpet..The hoist is self-supporting. In use, the hoist is located at the center of the carpet for great maneuverability. Also, if the hoist is lifted about half as high as the bed of the truck, one end of the carpet can be lowered to the floor and the other end of the carpet will be about as high as the bed of the truck.

I am able to achieve this result, in part, by using the caster wheels so they can roll lengthwise to straddle the roll of carpet and also roll crosswise to roll the carpet over the strap. Normally, when handling the carpet, it is supported by carry bars so it is not necessary to keep the carpet balanced about the single strap under the center of the roll.

The hoist is adjustable, both in width and height, to accommodate different size rolls of carpeting. The hoist is readily dismanteled at telescoping .joints (points of adjustment) so it may be carried in a small van.

OBJECTS OF THIS INVENTION An object of this invention is to move rolls of carpeting from one position to another and to load and unload them onto trucks.

Other objects are to achieve the above with a device that is sturdy, compact, durable, lightweight, simple,

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing show my hoist for moving rolls of carpet. The hoist has two vertical legs 10 and 12. Horizontal foot 14 is attachedto the bottom of the leg 10 and extends forward and back, which is to say, to either side of the bottom of the leg 10. Horizontal foot 16 is attached to the bottom of the leg 12 and extends forward and back.

Caster wheel 18 is mounted on the extremities or distal end of each foot. As seen in FIG. 2, the caster wheels rotate about a vertical axis well as being journaled on a horizontal axis. Therefore, the hoist can be moved in any direction, and, more particularly, it can be moved forward or sideways.

The top of the legs 10 and 12-are connected by horizontal corssbar 20.

Carry bars 22 extend from one foot to the other, which is crossway of the hoist. Referring to FIG. 1, the carry bars are mounted upon brackets or clips 24 which are located upon struts 26. The struts are angle braces which extend from the feet to the leg maintain the feet horizontal and the legs vertical. Stated otherwise, the struts 26 brace the legs to an upright position. It will be noted that there are notches 28 located in the top of the feet near the extremities thereof, i.e., there is a notch over each of the caster wheels 18. At the option of the operator, the carry bars 22 can be placed in the notches 28, in which case, the roll of carpet is carried lower, and the carry bars extended further along the roll of carpet to give it more stability. Also, additional brackets or clips similar to clips 24 may be placed upon the struts 26 in a higher position if the operator found this position desirable.

Winch 30 is mounted upon the: leg 10 near the top thereof. The winch is a common item of commerce wherein reel 32 is operated through a gear train (not safe, efficient, versatile, and reliable, yet inexpensive and easy to manufacture, adjust, operate, and maintain.

objects, uses, and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, the different views of which are not to the same scale.

shown) by rotation of handle 34. Strap 36 is wound upon the reel 32. Flat hook 38 on the end of the strap may be attached in loop 40 mounted near the top of the leg 12 or, perhaps more accurately described, on the edge of the crossbar 20 at the leg 12.

To use the hoist to move a roll of carpet, first, the hoist is rolled so it is astraddle of the roll with one foot 14 on one side of the roll and the other foot 16 on the other side of the roll and the carry bars 22 removed. In this position, a considerable length of the strap 36 is pulled from the reel 32 and laid on the floor. Then, the carpet is rolled over on the strap 36, the caster wheels are turning to the position as seen on the left of FIG. 2 for moving the hoist sideways as the carpet is rolled. Then the book 38 is attached to the loop 40 and the strap 36 reeled in upon the reel 32 by operation of the handle 34. When the carpet has been lifted clear of the floor, the carry bars 22 are put into place and the carpet is lowered onto carry bars 22 by playing out the strap 36. The roll of carpet is now completely supported by the hoist and the carpet can be moved to any desired location by manually pushing the castered hoist.

To load the carpet upon a truck or a platform higher than floor level, the strap 36 is wound upon the reel 32 until the end of the carpet to be first loaded upon the truck bed or platform is a little above the truck bed or platform; then, the hoist is advanced, pushing one end of the carpet onto the truck bed. With one end of the carpet resting on the truck'bed, the strap is played out and the hoist rolled back near the low end of the carpet resting on the floor. The carry bars may be removed if they interfere with the operation. With the hoist near the end of the carpet, the strap is again taken up to hoist that end of the carpet level with the end on the truck bed, enabling the carpet to be slid onto the truck bed while one end of the carpet is on the truck bed and the other end supported by the hoist.

The carpet can be removed from a truck or platform by reversing the steps described above; also, the carpet can be laid from the hoist upon the floor by reversing the steps described to lift the carpet.

The lower element of the legs and 12 is square tubing 44 which is welded to the feet 14 and I6 and which has struts 26 attached thereto. Sleeve 46 is telescoped over the tops of the tube 44 and held in position by bolts or pins 48. The top of each leg is square tubing 50 which telescopes within the top of the sleeve 46 and is held in place by bolts or pins 52. The winch 30 is attached to the top of the sleeve 46 of the leg I0. The tubing 50 is a portion of the crossbar assembly.

The crossbar assembly (FIG. 3) includes the two tubes 50, which have been described as a portion of the legs. One of the tubes 50 is attached to outer crossbar 54 and held rigidly in place by brace 56. Inner crossbar 58 telescopes within the outer crossbar 54. Tube 50 on the crossbar 58 is held rigidly in place by brace 60. The length of the crossbar 20, composed of outer crossbar 54 and inner crossbar 58, is determined as to placement of bolt 62 which connects between them. The loop 40 is attached as by welding to the brace 60.

Referring to FIG. 4, there may be seen that each carry bar includes an L-shaped outer bar 64 which is telescoped over L-shaped inner bar 66 and held in adjusted position by pin 68. L-shapes or hooks 70 on each of the ends of the crossbar 22 insure that the carry bars are maintained in position when they are located within the clips 24 or the notches 28.

The embodiment shown and described above is only exemplary. I do not claim to have invented all the parts, elements or steps described. Various modifications can be made in the construction, material, arrangement, and operation, and still be within the scope of my invention. The limits of the invention and the bounds of the patent protection are measured by and defined in the following claims. The restrictive description and drawing of the specific example above do not point out what an infringement of this patent would be, but are to enable the reader to make and use the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hoist for moving carpet comprising:

a. two parallel vertical legs,

b. a horizontal foot extending to each side at the bottom of each leg,

0. said feet parallel,

d. four caster wheels,

e. one of the wheels located at the extremity of each foot,

f. a horizontal crossbar connecting the tops of the legs,

g. carry bars laid across the hoist from one foot to the other,

h. a winch on one leg near the top thereof,

j. a loop on the other leg near the top thereof,

k. a strap on the winch,

m. struts extending triangularly from the feet to the legs to brace the legs in a vertical position, and

n. brackets on the struts so that said carry bars may be laid across the hoist from one strut to the other rather than from one foot to the other.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 with additional limitations of 0. said crossbar composed of two tubular members,

p. one tubular member telescoped within the other,

q. means for locking the crossbar in one of a plurality of positions whereby the width of the hoist is made adjustable.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 with an additional limitation of r. said carry bars being made of tubular members, one telescoped within the other so that the length of the carry bars' may be adjusted to correspond to the width of the hoist as determined by the adjustment of the crossbar.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of s. said legs being tubular and one portion of each of the legs telescoped within another portion so that the height of the hoist may be adjusted.

5. A hoist for moving carpet comprising:

a. two parallel vertical legs,

b. a horizontal foot extending to each side at the bottom of each leg,

c. said feet parallel,

d. four caster wheels,

e. one of the wheels located at the extremity of each foot,

f. a horizontal crossbar connecting the tops of the le s,

g. czfrry bars laid across the hoist from one foot to the other,

h. a winch on one leg near the top thereof,

j. a loop on the other leg near the top thereof,

k. a strap on the winch,

in. each of said legs including:

i. a lower element made of square tubing, ii. struts welded from the lower element to the foot,

iii. brackets on the struts for said carry bars, iv. a sleeve telescoped over the lower element v. held in place by bolts, and vi. said winch on one of said sleeves; n. each of said carry bars including:

i. an L-shaped outer bar telescoped over ii. an L-shaped inner bar held in position by iii. a pin; and 0. said crossbar is a portion of an assembly including:

i. an outer crossbar telescoped over ii. an inner crossbar, held in position by iii. a pin,

iv. a tube on the outer crossbar telescoped in one of said sleeves,

v. a brace between the outer crossbar and its tube,

vi. a second tube on the inner crossbar telescoped in the other sleeve,

vii. a brace between the inner crossbar and its second tube, and

viii. said loop on one of said braces between one of the crossbar elements and tubes. 

1. A hoist for moving carpet comprising: a. two parallel vertical legs, b. a horizontal foot extending to each side at the bottom of each leg, c. said feet parallel, d. four caster wheels, e. one of the wheels located at the extremity of each foot, f. a horizontal crossbar connecting the tops of the legs, g. carry bars laid across the hoist from one foot to the other, h. a winch on one leg near the top thereof, j. a loop on the other leg near the top thereof, k. a strap on the winch, m. struts extending triangularly from the feet to the legs to brace the legs in a vertical position, and n. brackets on the struts so that said carry bars may be laid across the hoist from one strut to the other rather than from one foot to the other.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 with additional limitations of o. said crossbar composed of two tubular members, p. one tubular member telescoped within the other, q. means for locking the crossbar in one of a plurality of positions whereby the width of the hoist is made adjustable.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 2 with an additional limitation of r. said carry bars being made of tubular members, one telescoped within the other so that the length of the carry bars may be adjusted to correspond to the width of the hoist as determined by the adjustment of the crossbar.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of s. said legs being tubular and one portion of each of the legs telescoped within another portion so that the height of the hoist may be adjusted.
 5. A hoist for moving carpet comprising: a. two parallel vertical legs, b. a horizontal foot extending to each side at the bottom of each leg, c. said feet parallel, d. four caster wheels, e. one of the wheels located at the extremity of each foot, f. a horizontal crossbar connecting the tops of the legs, g. carry bars laid across the hoisT from one foot to the other, h. a winch on one leg near the top thereof, j. a loop on the other leg near the top thereof, k. a strap on the winch, m. each of said legs including: i. a lower element made of square tubing, ii. struts welded from the lower element to the foot, iii. brackets on the struts for said carry bars, iv. a sleeve telescoped over the lower element v. held in place by bolts, and vi. said winch on one of said sleeves; n. each of said carry bars including: i. an L-shaped outer bar telescoped over ii. an L-shaped inner bar held in position by iii. a pin; and o. said crossbar is a portion of an assembly including: i. an outer corssbar telescoped over ii. an inner crossbar, held in position by iii. a pin, iv. a tube on the outer crossbar telescoped in one of said sleeves, v. a brace between the outer crossbar and its tube, vi. a second tube on the inner crossbar telescoped in the other sleeve, vii. a brace between the inner crossbar and its second tube, and viii. said loop on one of said braces between one of the crossbar elements and tubes. 